10 years of Diversity Recruitment Program

MDOT marks 10 years of Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program

 Fast facts:
– MDOT’s Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program (TDRP) is celebrating its 10th season.
– The TDRP offers Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students hands-on experience in civil engineering and other opportunities toward a career in transportation.
– MDOT has produced a new video featuring two successful students of the program.

LANSING, Mich. ­- The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) recently celebrated the 10th season of its successful Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program (TDRP) with a program showcase. The goal of the TDRP is to recruit and introduce underrepresented groups of students to transportation-specific career opportunities. The program offers Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students hands-on experience in civil engineering and other opportunities toward a career in transportation.

State Transportation Director Bradley C. Wieferich reflected on the first decade of the program. “The TDRP, I think, is just one example of how we’re building diversity, equity and inclusion into the fabric of what we do. It’s opening the door, where in the past (these students) might not have ever had these opportunities maybe that I had when I was coming up. We need to make sure that we’re expanding the pipeline as much as we can across the industry and the TDRP is an excellent way of making sure that we’re tapping all the resources we need.”

“I’m very happy that MDOT came up with the initiative to recruit students like me,” said Peter Oyewale, an Alabama A&M University student and TDRP intern in MDOT’s Southwest Region. “I’m an international student from Nigeria and when I came to the U.S., I knew it was going to be hard for me to get an internship because I didn’t have a U.S. experience.”

Zaya Wright, a second-year TDRP intern from Southern University and A&M College, commented on her experience with the program. “An opportunity like this doesn’t come as often as people would think. I think this program means a lot, especially to students coming from HBCUs who really don’t have that representation. It has led me to meeting some amazing people and creating some amazing job opportunities for myself.”

The TDRP runs from May to August each year. Requirements include being an engineering undergraduate student enrolled at an HBCU with at least a 2.0 GPA. Go to the program website at www.Michigan.gov/MI-TDRP for more information, or contact TDRP Program Coordinator James Jackson at 517-206-9369 or [email protected].